The Man Booker shortlist and the National Book Award longlists, oh my!
The Thread's Must-Read
"Paper Girls”by Brian K. Vaughn
Buy this book
“Paper Girls” unfurls in one of those peaceful, small towns where everything’s just peachy — until it isn’t. The kind of place where kids can ride their bikes through the streets with total freedom — until something strange comes a-knockin’.
This neon-dipped graphic novel tells the story of a crew of paper girls, running their routes in the pre-dawn darkness. The calendar reads Nov. 1: The last remnants of Halloween night are still haunting the streets and the girls run smack into trouble.
But it’s not the rival paper carriers they have to worry about: It’s something bigger and stranger and weirder.
Writer Brian K. Vaughn, who graphic novel fans will know from his work on “Saga,” unleashes a wild, sci-fi time-travel story that will give you a nostalgia-dripping kids-on-an-adventure high.
For anyone who loved “Stranger Things” or “The Goonies,” pick up “Paper Girls.” (It’s always a delight to find bike-riding, sci-fi fighting, pre-teen girl heroes.) It'll make you want to throw on your jean jacket and pedal into the night.
And let’s talk about it on Twitter: @TheThreadMPR.
-Tracy Mumford
 |
The meteor of the poetry world "Don't Call Us Dead" by Danez Smith
Buy this book
St. Paul native Danez Smith's latest collection just landed on the longlist for the National Book Award. The collection explores what it's like to be young, black and gay in America.
More
Man Booker Prize shortlist announced The 2017 nominees for the U.K.'s top literary prize include a hefty dose of marquee authors, such as Paul Auster. But the list also features a pair of debuts, from Minnesota native Emily Fridlund and from Fiona Mozley.
More
A Minnesota debut novelist bears down on the Booker "History of Wolves" by Emily Fridlund
Buy this book
Win or lose, the book's Minnesota author is enjoying a major honor.
More
A mother and daughter upset suburban status quo "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Buy this book
Novelist Celeste Ng knows Shaker Heights, Ohio well. Writing about your own hometown is "like writing about a relative," she says. "You love them dearly, and yet you also know all of their quirks."
More
The medical mystery that traced back to slaughterhouse workers "Big Chicken" by Maryn McKenna
Buy this book
In the 1950s, the poultry industry began dunking birds in antibiotic baths. It was supposed to keep meat fresher and healthier. That's not what happened, as Maryn McKenna recounts in her new book.
More
Hillary Clinton is "done," but not going away “What Happened" by Hillary Clinton
Buy this book
In interviews with NPR around her new book, Hillary Clinton discusses her life since the election she didn't expect to lose, why she lost, and offers scathing criticism of President Trump.
More
A chilling mystery with a personal connection "A Disappearance in Damascus" by Deborah Campbell
Buy this book
Deborah Campbell's new book is both a taut detective story and an intimate account of friendship during war — and that's before our reviewer discovered her own part in the story.
More
A sequel to "Wind in the Willows"? It's delightful “The River Bank" by Kij Johnson
Buy this book
Kij Johnson works fresh magic with an old story in "The River Bank," a sequel to "The Wind in the Willows" that introduces two new characters, Miss Mole and Miss Rabbit, but keeps the original's charm.
More
A reporter shares her "Front-Row" view of the Trump campaign “Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History" by Katy Tur
Buy this book
Katy Tur was at a rally in South Carolina when Trump called her name and pointed at her from the podium. Then, she says, "The entire place turns and they roar as one ... like a giant, unchained animal."
More
St. Paul writer Vince Flynn's series hits the big screen Coming years after Vince Flynn's death, the release of the film "American Assassin" is an emotional event for the author's family.
More
Don't miss Talking Volumes 2017 Get tickets to see Jacqueline Woodson, Amy Tan, Ron Chernow and Dan Brown at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul this fall.
Get tickets
In America, we walk "side by side" with our past “Bluebird Bluebird" by Attica Locke
Buy this book
Attica Locke's novel is set in Texas where her family roots stretch back to slavery. The family didn't go north during the Great Migration, she explains: "We said: No, Texas is ours, too."
More
